A special Founders Day celebration is being held at Shoe Fly Stores in Altoona to commemorate those individuals who first opened the shoe stores.
Both the Levine and Lasser families will be honored.
Many Tyrone residents will remember the little shoe store, Levine Family Shoe Store, in downtown Tyrone and many adults will recall their childhood days visiting the store, picking out shoes, sitting in those special bunny chairs and of course getting that pretzel rod to munch on.
Today, the Shoe Fly Stores are located in the Pleasant Valley Shopping Center in Altoona. Individuals are invited to stop by and help honor the stores’ founders. Also, as a special treat, for those who would like to reminisce on days past, Morris Levine will be at the stores this afternoon and again tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m.
Refreshments will be served, including, what else but, shoe fly pie.
Levine Family Shoe Store was opened in Tyrone in 1946 with 395 pairs of slippers, since shoes were hard to come by following World War II.
Morris, along with his wife Bess, worked hard, writing to many shoe manufacturers and traveling on buying trips, until they eventually had a very well-supplied shoe store.
The couple created a comfortable, small town shoe store that became a part of many area families lives.
And as for those bunny chairs, Levine said he purchased them in 1947 from Vaisey Bristol Shoe Company out of Missouri. They represented the brand Jumping Jack shoes.
After 52 years, Morris and Bess sold their business on May 9, 1988 to Todd Lewis of Tyrone. In 2003, the business was moved to Altoona.
While the bunny chairs are missing, the scene is still a very familiar one. Why not take this opportunity to visit with a familiar face and perhaps find a great new pair of shoes in the process.
